System and method for providing a temporally or geographically relevant item

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing at least one of a geographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item are provided. A geographical location or temporal information of a device that is configured to access items associated with an electronic messaging account is determined. First items associated with the electronic messaging account are filtered to obtain an item relevant to the determined geographical location or temporal information. Second items associated with the electronic messaging account are filtered to obtain one or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item. The relevant item and one or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item are provided for display, wherein the display is differentiated from other items of the electronic messaging account.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/616,391, entitled “System and Method forProviding a Temporally or Geographically Relevant Item,” filed on Mar.27, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety forall purposes.

FIELD

The subject technology generally relates to providing an item fordisplay and, in particular, relates to providing a geographically and/ortemporally relevant item for display.

BACKGROUND

Electronic messaging applications provide users with many electronicmessages of varying degrees of importance on a daily basis. Electronicmessaging applications may also provide users with access to informationnot related to a particular electronic message, such as another user'scontact information.

SUMMARY

The disclosed subject matter relates to a computer-implemented methodfor providing at least one of a geographically relevant item or atemporally relevant item. The method comprises determining ageographical location or temporal information of a device, wherein thedevice is configured to access items associated with an electronicmessaging account. The method also comprises filtering first itemsassociated with the electronic messaging account to obtain an itemrelevant to the determined geographical location or the determinedtemporal information. The method also comprises filtering second itemsassociated with the electronic messaging account to obtain one or moreitems contextually relevant to the relevant item. The method alsocomprises providing for display the relevant item and the one or moreitems contextually relevant to the relevant item, wherein the provideddisplay is differentiated from other items of the electronic messagingaccount.

The disclosed subject matter further relates to a system for providingat least one of a geographically relevant item or temporally relevantitem. The system comprises a memory storing executable instructions. Thesystem also comprises one or more processors configured to executeexecutable instructions stored in the memory, which when executed by theprocessors, cause the processors to determine a geographical location ortemporal information of a device, wherein the device is configured toaccess items associated with an electronic messaging account. The systemalso comprises one or more processors configured to execute executableinstructions stored in the memory, which when executed by theprocessors, cause the processors to filter first items associated withthe electronic messaging account to obtain an item relevant to thedetermined geographical location or the determined temporal informationfurther comprising determining geographical location or temporalinformation for the first items, comparing the geographical location ortemporal information for the first items with the determinedgeographical location or the determined temporal information of thedevice, respectively, and filtering the first items to obtain therelevant item, based on the comparison. The system also comprises one ormore processors configured to execute executable instructions stored inthe memory, which when executed by the processors, cause the processorsto filter second items associated with the electronic messaging accountto obtain one or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item.The system also comprises one or more processors configured to executeexecutable instructions stored in the memory, which when executed by theprocessors, cause the processors to provide for display, the relevantitem and the one or more items contextually relevant to the relevantitem, wherein the provided display is differentiated from other items ofthe electronic messaging account.

The disclosed subject matter also relates to a machine-readable mediumstoring machine-executable instructions for providing at least one of ageographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item for viewingon a mobile device. The instructions comprise code which when executedby a machine, cause the machine to determine a geographical location ofa mobile device, wherein the mobile device is configured to access itemsassociated with an electronic messaging account. The instructionsfurther comprise code which when executed by a machine, cause themachine to filter first items associated with the electronic messagingaccount to obtain an item relevant to the determined geographicallocation or the determined temporal information further comprisinginstructions for determining geographical location or temporalinformation for the first items, comparing the geographical location ortemporal information for the first items with the determinedgeographical location or the determined temporal information of themobile device, respectively, and filtering the first items to obtain therelevant item, based on the comparison. The instructions furthercomprise code which when executed by a machine, cause the machine tofilter second items associated with the electronic messaging account toobtain one or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item. Theinstructions further comprise code which when executed by a machine,cause the machine to provide for display on the mobile device, therelevant item and the one or more items contextually relevant to therelevant item, wherein the provided display is differentiated from otheritems of the electronic messaging account.

It is understood that other configurations of the subject technologywill become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing detailed description, wherein various configurations of thesubject technology are shown and described by way of illustration. Aswill be realized, the subject technology is capable of other anddifferent configurations and its several details are capable ofmodification in various other respects, all without departing from thescope of the subject technology. Accordingly, the drawings and detaileddescription are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not asrestrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain features of the subject technology are set forth in the appendedclaims. However, for purpose of explanation, several embodiments of thesubject technology are set forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example distributed network environment which canprovide an electronic messaging account with at least one of ageographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example process by which at least one of ageographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item is provided.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example image of a graphical user interface foran electronic messaging application running on a mobile device.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example image of a folder of the electronicmessaging account running on the electronic messaging application ofFIG. 3A, wherein the folder contains multiple relevant items related toeach other by a shared characteristic.

FIG. 3C illustrates an example image of a subfolder which contains oneor more items contextually relevant to a relevant item.

FIG. 3D illustrates an example image of a subfolder which contains oneor more items contextually relevant to a relevant item, the one or moreitems contextually relevant to the relevant item also having a sharedcharacteristic.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example image of a user selectable controlconfigured to allow a user to designate one or more geographically ortemporally relevant parameters.

FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates an electronic system with which someimplementations of the subject technology are implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description ofvarious configurations of the subject technology and is not intended torepresent the only configurations in which the subject technology may bepracticed. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitutea part of the detailed description. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof the subject technology. However, it will be clear and apparent tothose skilled in the art that the subject technology is not limited tothe specific details set forth herein and may be practiced without thesespecific details. In some instances, well-known structures andcomponents are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuringthe concepts of the subject technology.

In accordance with the subject technology, a system and a method areprovided for providing temporally or geographically relevant informationfor display in an electronic messaging account. The system may utilize acalendar, a Global Positioning System (GPS), or other accessiblesoftware and/or hardware components to determine a user's temporalinformation and geographical location. Once the user's temporalinformation and geographical location have been ascertained, the subjecttechnology filters items the user's electronic messaging account hasaccess to for items relevant to the user's temporal or geographicallocation.

An item may be any data related to information accessible to anelectronic messaging account. An item may contain information related anelectronic message accessible to the electronic messaging account, e.g.,an electronic message containing a flight itinerary. An item may alsocontain information related to an electronic message and is accessibleto the electronic messaging account, e.g., information pertaining to afriend's birthday or the friend's contact information. Additionalexamples of items may include information about an advertisement, anevent, a birthday or a group trip. Some additional examples of items areprovided herein. It will be apparent, however, that items may containinformation not limited to the specific details set forth herein and maycontain additional information accessible to an electronic messagingaccount.

Where the system has ascertained the current time and the user's currentposition, an electronic message containing the user's e-boarding pass toboard a flight from an airport within a few miles of the user device'slocation would be both temporally and geographically relevant to theuser, whereas an e-ticket to attend an event one year from the currentdate and across the world from the user device's location would beneither temporally nor geographically relevant. Upon obtaining an itemof temporal or geographical relevance, the subject technology initiatesa second filtering process to obtain one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the relevant item. For example, if the subject technologylocates a temporally relevant item pertaining to a group trip,additional items contextually relevant to the group trip may include,but is not limited to information about other group members, the user'spast interactions with the other members, the other members' blog posts,and information about the destination.

The subject technology may provide relevant items for display in anumber of different ways to provide a visual representation of naturalrelationships between filtered relevant items and items contextuallyrelevant to the filtered relevant items. One way is to configure anelectronic messaging application to provide a shortcut to geographicallyrelevant and temporally relevant items for display on a device. Anotherway is to configure an electronic messaging application to provide afolder containing geographically relevant and temporally relevant itemsfor display on a device. Temporally relevant items may be assigned acolor that is different from geographically relevant items todistinguish the temporally relevant items from the geographicallyrelevant items. The electronic messaging application may be configuredto provide additional visual representations to show relationshipsbetween temporally relevant and geographically relevant items and todifferentiate these relevant items from other items of the electronicmessaging account.

A selection of a particular relevant item may expand the electronicmessaging interface to display additional items that are contextuallyrelevant to the relevant item. For example, a user's selection of anitem pertaining to a group trip may expand the electronic messagingapplication's interface to display flight itineraries, information aboutother group members, the user's past interactions with the other member,the other group members' blog posts, and information about thedestination.

Multiple relevant items may share a common characteristic and may begrouped by a shared characteristic and displayed as a group. Forexample, if the subject technology detects that a user has 10 friendswith birthdays in the next week, the subject technology can group itemsrelated to each birthday into a single “birthday” group and display a“birthday” group within the “relevant box” folder. A user can accessitems related to each birthday in the birthday group by initiating auser action (e.g., a user click, a hover action, a tap action, a swipeaction, etc). A user selectable control may be included and may beconfigured to allow the user to remove items the user is not interestedin. A second user selectable control may be included and may beconfigured to allow the user to specify a temporal and geographicalrange of relevancy.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example distributed network environment 100 whichcan provide an electronic messaging account with at least one of ageographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item according tocertain aspects of the disclosure.

A network environment 100 includes a number of devices 102-106communicably connected to a server 108 by a network 110. Server 108includes a processing device 112 and a data store 114. Processing device112 executes computer instructions stored in data store 114, forexample, to provide a geographically relevant item to any of devices102-106.

In some example aspects, each of devices 102-106 may be any machine withappropriate hardware and software to run an electronic messagingapplication. Devices 102-106 can be mobile devices (e.g., smartphones,tablet computers, PDAs, and laptop computers), portable media players,or other appropriate computing devices. In the example of FIG. 1, device102 is depicted as a smartphone, device 104 is depicted as a desktopcomputer, and device 106 is depicted as a PDA.

In some example aspects, each of the devices 102-106 may include one ormore location detection hardware and/or software such as a GPSconfigured to determine geographical location of the respective devices.Furthermore, each of the devices 102-106 may also include one or moretemporal information hardware and/or software (e.g., a calendarsoftware) configured to determine temporal information about therespective devices. Furthermore, each of devices may also contain anelectronic messaging application configured to access items associatedwith an electronic messaging account. Furthermore, each of the devices102-106 may transmit geographical location and temporal informationabout the respective device to server 108. Furthermore, each of thedevices 102-106 may receive one or more items determined to be relevantto an electronic messaging account user. Furthermore, each of thedevices 102-106 may provide one or more items determined to be relevantto an electronic messaging account user for display on an electronicmessaging application in a manner that differentiates the relevant itemsfrom other items of the electronic messaging account.

Server 108 may be any system or device having a processor, a memory, andcommunications capability appropriate for providing temporally orgeographically relevant items. Server 108 can be a single computingdevice such as a computer server. In other embodiments, server 108 canrepresent more than one computing device working together to perform theactions of a server computer (e.g., cloud computing).

Server 108 may contain items associated with one or more electronicmessaging accounts. Furthermore, server 108 also may also contain one ormore sets of filtering parameters corresponding to different electronicmessaging accounts. Furthermore, server 108 may filter items associatedwith an electronic messaging account based on a set of filteringparameters for the electronic messaging account. Furthermore, server 108may compare a geographical location or a temporal information for anitem associated with the electronic messaging account with ageographical location or temporal information of a device displaying theelectronic messaging account to obtain a geographically and/ortemporally relevant item. Furthermore, server 108 may compare an itemassociated with the electronic messaging account with a geographicallyand/or temporally relevant item to obtain one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the temporally and/or geographically relevant item.Furthermore, the server 108 may transmit one or more items obtained fromthe filtering process to the devices 102-106 via the network 110.

Network 110 can include, for example, any one or more of a cellularnetwork, a satellite network, a personal area network (PAN), a localarea network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a broadband network(BBN), the Internet, and the like. Further, the network 108 can include,but is not limited to, any one or more of the following networktopologies, including a bus network, a star network, a ring network, amesh network, a star-bus network, tree or hierarchical network, and thelike.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example process by which at least one of ageographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item is provided.Following start block 200, a determination of a geographical location ora temporal information of a device that is configured to access itemsassociated with an electronic messaging account is made in step 202. Thedevice may contain location detection hardware and/or software (e.g., aGPS device) configured to obtain the device's geographical location andto provide the geographical location to server. The device's user mayalso provide server with the geographical location of the device via auser selectable control integrated to an electronic messagingapplication and configured to allow the user to input a geographicallocation and transmit the inputted geographical location to the server.The device may also contain temporal information hardware and/orsoftware (e.g., a calendar software). The device user may also provideserver with temporal information about the device via a user selectablecontrol integrated to an electronic messaging application and configuredto allow the user to input a temporal information and transmit theinputted temporal information to the server.

At step 204, server filters first items associated with the electronicmessaging account to obtain an item relevant to the geographicallocation or the temporal information transmitted from the device in step202. Filtering the first items may include determining geographicallocation or temporal information for the first items. This may includeanalyzing information related to the geographical location or thetemporal information for the first items. Upon determining thegeographical location or the temporal information for the first items, acomparison of the geographical location or the temporal information forthe first items with the determined geographical location or thedetermined temporal information of the device, respectively, may bemade. Comparison of the first items with the device may also includeutilizing a set of parameters to determine the first items' relevance.The set of parameters may include parameters related to the device'sgeographical location and temporal information. The set of parametersmay also include a user inputted range of geographical or temporalrelevance. Additional methods of comparing the first items to the deviceto obtain a relevant item may be implemented based on the geographicallocation or the temporal information of the first items and the device,respectively.

At step 206, server filters second items associated with the electronicmessaging account to obtain one or more items contextually relevant tothe relevant item obtained in step 204. Filtering the second items mayinclude determining historical information for the second items.Historical information for an item may relate to secondary informationabout the item, such as, information about the source of the item,information about one or more individuals and/or destination identifiedby the item, or information about the user's prior interactions with oneor more individuals and/or destination identified by the item. Where anitem relates to an electronic message about a group trip, historicalinformation for the item may include information about the sender of theelectronic message, information about one or more individuals identifiedby the electronic message as participants of the group trip, chathistories between the user and the other members of the group trip,prior blog posts by the other members of the group trip or informationabout the group trip's destination.

Filtering the second items may further include comparing the historicalinformation for the second items with the historical information for therelevant item. Comparison of the historical information for the seconditems with the historical information of the relevant item may includeassessing their common properties, such as a having a common source, orrelating to identical parties. Additional methods of comparing thehistorical information for the second items to the relevant item toobtain one or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item maybe implemented based on comparing additional information related to thesecond items with information related to the relevant item.

At step 208, the relevant item and the one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the relevant item are provided for display in a manner thatdifferentiates the relevant item from other items of the electronicmessaging account. The server may transmit the relevant item and the oneor more items contextually relevant to the relevant item to the devicevia the network for display by an electronic messaging applicationrunning on the device. Providing for display, the relevant item and theone or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item may includeassigning the relevant item and the one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the relevant item to a folder that is differentiated fromthe other folders. Where an electronic messaging application isconfigured to display folders for incoming electronic messages andoutgoing electronic messages on the device it runs on, a new folder maybe created for displaying relevant items and items associated with therelevant items on the device.

Providing for display, the relevant item and the one or more itemscontextually relevant to the relevant item may also include assigningthe relevant item, based on the relevant item's temporal or geographicalrelevance, to different subfolders within the folder for relevant items.A subfolder may be configured to display geographically relevant items,and a different subfolder may be configured to display temporallyrelevant items. A subfolder configured to display a relevant item mayalso be configured to display one or more levels subfolders which areconfigured to display the one or more items contextually relevant to therelevant item.

Providing for display of the relevant item and the one or more itemscontextually relevant to the relevant item may further include assigninga color to the relevant item and the one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the relevant item, wherein, the assigned color is based onwhether the relevant item is relevant to the determined geographicallocation, the determined temporal information, and/or both, andproviding for display, the relevant item and the one or more itemscontextually relevant to the relevant item in the assigned color. Theone or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item may befurther assigned to one or more colors based on their level orassociation or their type of association with the relevant item.Additional methods of assigning different colors based on the relevantitem and the one or more items contextually relevant to the relevantitem may be implemented to facilitate the user to differentiatedifferent relevant items, and the one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the different relevant items from each other, respectively.

Alternatively, providing for display, the relevant item and the one ormore items contextually relevant to the relevant item may also includeproviding a shortcut to the relevant item and the one or more itemscontextually relevant to the relevant item. The electronic messagingapplication may be configured to provide additional visualrepresentations to show relationships between the relevant item and theone or more one or more items contextually relevant to the relevantitem, and to differentiate these relevant items from other items of theelectronic messaging account. The process then ends at end block 210.

Many of the above-described features and applications are implemented assoftware processes that are specified as a set of instructions recordedon a computer readable storage medium (also referred to as computerreadable medium). When these instructions are executed by one or moreprocessing unit(s) (e.g., one or more processors, cores of processors,or other processing units), they cause the processing unit(s) to performthe actions indicated in the instructions. Examples of computer readablemedia include, but are not limited to, CD-ROMs, flash drives, RAM chips,hard drives, EPROMs, etc. The computer readable media does not includecarrier waves and electronic signals passing wirelessly or over wiredconnections.

In this specification, the term “software” is meant to include firmwareresiding in read-only memory or applications stored in magnetic storage,which can be read into memory for processing by a processor. Also, insome implementations, multiple software aspects of the subjectdisclosure can be implemented as sub-parts of a larger program whileremaining distinct software aspects of the subject disclosure. In someimplementations, multiple software aspects can also be implemented asseparate programs. Finally, any combination of separate programs thattogether implement a software aspect described here is within the scopeof the subject disclosure. In some implementations, the softwareprograms, when installed to operate on one or more electronic systems,define one or more specific machine implementations that execute andperform the operations of the software programs.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example image of a graphical user interface of anelectronic messaging application running on a mobile device 300. Theelectronic messaging application 302 may include any web browsingsoftware or electronic messaging software 302 configured to group anddisplay items accessible to an electronic messaging account on themobile device's display screen 301. The electronic messaging applicationas shown in FIG. 3A is configured to group items accessible to theelectronic messaging account into three folders (an “inbox” folder 304(a) for incoming electronic messages, an “outbox” folder 304 (b) foroutgoing electronic messages and a “relevant box” folder 304 (c) forrelevant items associated with the electronic messaging account) anddisplay the three folders on the mobile device's display screen 301.Alternative examples of electronic messaging applications may beconfigured to group items associated with the electronic messagingaccount differently. Alternative examples of electronic messagingapplications may also be configured to display a different number offolders, with different naming conventions.

The electronic messaging application as shown in FIG. 3A is furtherconfigured to display two relevant items 306 associated with the“relevant box” folder 304 (c) in response to a user action (e.g., a userclick, a hover action, a tap action, a swipe action, etc.) above the“relevant box” folder 304 (c) area of the mobile device's display screen301. Alternatively, a “short cut” or another visual representation maybe used to represent natural relationships between the two relevantitems and differentiate the two relevant items from other items of theelectronic messaging account. Context information related to the tworelevant items 306 and items associated with the two relevant items maybe displayed in response to the user action above areas of the mobiledevice's display screen 301 where the two relevant items 306 aredisplayed respectively. Each of the two relevant items may also containa separate user selectable control 307 configured to initiate a userresponse to separately remove the items. Alternative examples of anelectronic messaging application may be configured to display the tworelevant items in a different location with respect to the mobiledevice's display screen 301. Alternative examples of electronicmessaging applications may also provide the two relevant items 306 fordisplay in a different manner that differentiates the two relevant items306 from other items of the electronic messaging account than theexample shown in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example image of a folder of the electronicmessaging account running on the electronic messaging application 302 ofFIG. 3A, wherein the folder contains multiple relevant items 306 relatedto each other by a shared characteristic. In particular, FIG. 3Bdisplays multiple relevant items 306 related to birthdays within acertain time frame, and grouped within a “birthday” folder. The“birthday” folder may be displayed similar to the “birthday” item 306 asshown in FIG. 3A. Relevant items 306 within the “birthday” folder may beaccessed by a user action on an area of the mobile device's displayscreen 301 where the “birthday” folder is displayed or in response tothe user action above the area where the “birthday” folder is displayed.

The example image as shown in FIG. 3B displays a context information 308about the shared characteristic of relevant items within the folder andthree relevant items 306 all having the shared characteristic. Each ofthe three relevant items 306 may contain additional context informationabout the respective relevant item. Additional context information aboutone of the three relevant items may be accessed in response to a useraction (e.g., a mouse click, a hover action, a swipe action, a tapaction, etc.) above the area of the mobile device's display screen 301where corresponding relevant item 306 is displayed. Each relevant item306 may also contain a separate user selectable control 307 configuredto initiate a user response to separately remove the relevant items.Relevant items 306 may be grouped by different characteristics and maycontain more or less context information about the sharedcharacteristic. Alternative examples of a folder containing multiplerelevant items having a shared characteristic may be displayed in adifferent manner that differentiates the group of relevant items havingthe shared characteristic from other relevant items than the exampleillustration shown in FIG. 3B. Furthermore, a “short cut” or anothervisual representation may be used to represent natural relationshipsbetween relevant items and differentiate the relevant items from otheritems of the electronic messaging account.

FIG. 3C illustrates an example image of a subfolder which contains oneor more items contextually relevant to a relevant item 310. Inparticular FIG. 3C displays multiple items contextually relevant to a“Spring Break” relevant item 310 shown in FIG. 3A. The multiple itemscontextually relevant to the “Spring Break” relevant item 310 as shownin FIG. 3A may be accessed in response to a user action above the areaof the mobile device's display screen 301 where the “Spring Break”relevant item 306 is being displayed. The example image as shown in FIG.3C displays a context information 308 about the item, an itinerary itemcontextually relevant to the “Spring Break” 310, items related to threeparticipants of the “Spring Break” 310, and an item about thedestination of the “Spring Break” 310. One or more items contextuallyrelevant to the “Spring break” relevant item may also contain a separateuser selectable control 307 configured to initiate a user response toseparately remove the items contextually relevant to the “Spring Break”relevant item. Alternative examples of a subfolder containing one ormore items contextually relevant to a relevant item may be displayed ina different manner that differentiates the one or more itemscontextually relevant to the relevant item from other items than asshown in FIG. 3C. Alternatively, a “short cut” or another visualrepresentation may be used to represent natural relationships betweenthe one or more items contextually relevant to a relevant item, anddifferentiate the one or more items contextually relevant to therelevant item from other items of the electronic messaging account.

FIG. 3D illustrates an example image of a subfolder which contains oneor more items contextually relevant to a relevant item, the one or moreitems contextually relevant to the relevant item also having a sharedcharacteristic. In particular, FIG. 3D displays four items contextuallyrelevant to the “Spring Break” relevant item 312, each of the four itemsalso containing information related to “John Doe” who is one of theparticipants of the “Spring Break”. The four items 312 shown in FIG. 3Dare grouped within a “John Doe” subfolder to differentiate the itemsrelated to John Doe from other items contextually relevant to the“Spring Break” relevant item. The subfolder shown in FIG. 3D alsocontains context information 308 about the shared characteristic of thefour items in the subfolder.

The “John Doe” subfolder may have an appearance similar to the John Doeitem 310 as shown in FIG. 3C. Furthermore, the four items 312 within the“John Doe” subfolder may be accessed in response to a user action abovethe area of the mobile device's display screen 301 where the “John Doe”subfolder is displayed. Each of the four items 312 within the “John Doe”subfolder may also contain a separate user selectable control 307configured to initiate a user response to separately remove the item.Additional subfolders may contain one or more items contextuallyrelevant to a relevant item, the one or more other items contextuallyrelevant to the relevant item also having a shared characteristic.Alternative examples of a subfolder containing one or more itemscontextually relevant to a relevant item, the one or more itemscontextually relevant to the relevant item also having a sharedcharacteristic may be displayed in a different manner thatdifferentiates the one or more items contextually relevant to therelevant item and also having a shared characteristic from other itemsthan illustrated in FIG. 3D. Alternatively, a “short cut” or anothervisual representation may be used to represent natural relationshipsbetween one or more items contextually relevant to a relevant item, theone or more items contextually relevant to the relevant item also havinga shared characteristic, and differentiate these relevant to therelevant item from other items of the electronic messaging account.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example image of a user selectable control 410configured to allow a user to designate one or more geographically ortemporally relevant parameters 412 (a)-412 (d). The user selectablecontrol 410 as shown in FIG. 4 contains four filter parameters. A firstfilter parameter 412 (a) allows the user to limit relevant items withina user designated range of the location of a device 400. Items relevantwithin the user designated range may be considered as relevant whereasitems not relevant to within the user's designated range are filteredout. A second filter parameter 412 (b) allows the user to limit relevantitems within a temporal range of the date as indicated by the device400. A third filter parameter 412 (c) allows the user to limit relevantitems within a user designated range of a user designated location. Aforth filter parameter 412 (d) allows a user to filter items within auser designated temporal range of a user designated date. Additionalfilter parameters may include other filtering parameters based ongeographical location or temporal information. The user selectablecontrol 410 is configured to respond to a user input of one or moreparameters by filtering out items not relevant within the userdesignated parameters. The user selectable control for filter parameters410 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed beneath the two relevant items shownin FIG. 3A. Alternative examples of a user selectable control for filterparameters may be displayed anywhere else with respect to the device'sdisplay screen 301.

FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates an electronic system with which someimplementations of the subject technology are implemented. Electronicsystem 500 can be a laptop computer a desktop computer, smartphone, PDA,a tablet computer or any other sort of device 102-106. Such anelectronic system includes various types of computer readable media andinterfaces for various other types of computer readable media.Electronic system 500 includes a bus 508, processing unit(s) 512, asystem memory 504, a read-only memory (ROM) 510, a permanent storagedevice 502, an input device interface 514, an output device interface506, and a network interface 516.

Bus 508 collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipsetbuses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices ofelectronic system 500. For instance, bus 508 communicatively connectsprocessing unit(s) 512 with ROM 510, system memory 504, and permanentstorage device 502.

From these various memory units, processing unit(s) 512 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of the subject disclosure. The processing unit(s) can be asingle processor or a multi-core processor in different implementations.

ROM 510 stores static data and instructions that are needed byprocessing unit(s) 512 and other modules of the electronic system.Permanent storage device 502, on the other hand, is a read-and-writememory device. This device is a non-volatile memory unit that storesinstructions and data even when electronic system 500 is off. Someimplementations of the subject disclosure use a mass-storage device(such as a magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive) aspermanent storage device 502.

Other implementations use a removable storage device (such as a floppydisk, flash drive, and its corresponding disk drive) as permanentstorage device 502. Like permanent storage device 502, system memory 504is a read-and-write memory device. However, unlike storage device 502,system memory 504 is a volatile read-and-write memory, such a randomaccess memory. System memory 504 stores some of the instructions anddata that the processor needs at runtime. In some implementations, theprocesses of the subject disclosure are stored in system memory 504,permanent storage device 502, and/or ROM 510. For example, the variousmemory units include instructions for providing graphically ortemporally relevant items in accordance with some implementations. Fromthese various memory units, processing unit(s) 512 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of some implementations.

Bus 508 also connects to input and output device interfaces 514 and 506.Input device interface 514 enables the user to communicate informationand select commands to the electronic system. Input devices used withinput device interface 514 include, for example, alphanumeric keyboardsand pointing devices (also called “cursor control devices”). Outputdevice interfaces 506 enables, for example, the display of imagesgenerated by the electronic system 500. Output devices used with outputdevice interface 506 include, for example, printers and display devices,such as cathode ray tubes (CRT) or liquid crystal displays (LCD). Someimplementations include devices such as a touchscreen that functions asboth input and output devices.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 5, bus 508 also couples electronic system 500to a network (not shown) through a network interface 516. In thismanner, the computer can be a part of a network of computers (such as alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), or an Intranet,or a network of networks, such as the Internet. Any or all components ofelectronic system 500 can be used in conjunction with the subjectdisclosure.

These functions described above can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, in computer software, firmware or hardware. The techniquescan be implemented using one or more computer program products.Programmable processors and computers can be included in or packaged asmobile devices. The processes and logic flows can be performed by one ormore programmable processors and by one or more programmable logiccircuitry. General and special purpose computing devices and storagedevices can be interconnected through communication networks.

Some implementations include electronic components, such asmicroprocessors, storage and memory that store computer programinstructions in a machine-readable or computer-readable medium(alternatively referred to as computer-readable storage media,machine-readable media, or machine-readable storage media). Someexamples of such computer-readable media include RAM, ROM, read-onlycompact discs (CD-ROM), recordable compact discs (CD-R), rewritablecompact discs (CD-RW), read-only digital versatile discs (e.g., DVD-ROM,dual-layer DVD-ROM), a variety of recordable/rewritable DVDs (e.g.,DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, etc.), flash memory (e.g., SD cards, mini-SDcards, micro-SD cards, etc.), magnetic and/or solid state hard drives,read-only and recordable Blu-Ray® discs, ultra density optical discs,any other optical or magnetic media, and floppy disks. Thecomputer-readable media can store a computer program that is executableby at least one processing unit and includes sets of instructions forperforming various operations. Examples of computer programs or computercode include machine code, such as is produced by a compiler, and filesincluding higher-level code that are executed by a computer, anelectronic component, or a microprocessor using an interpreter.

While the above discussion primarily refers to microprocessor ormulti-core processors that execute software, some implementations areperformed by one or more integrated circuits, such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs). In some implementations, such integrated circuits executeinstructions that are stored on the circuit itself.

As used in this specification and any claims of this application, theterms “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and “memory” all refer toelectronic or other technological devices. These terms exclude people orgroups of people. For the purposes of the specification, the termsdisplay or displaying means displaying on a device. As used in thisspecification and any claims of this application, the terms “computerreadable medium” and “computer readable media” are entirely restrictedto tangible, physical objects that store information in a form that isreadable by a computer. These terms exclude any wireless signals, wireddownload signals, and any other ephemeral signals.

To provide for interaction with a user, implementations of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's client device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front end component, e.g., aclient computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described in this specification, or any combination of one ormore such back end, middleware, or front end components. The componentsof the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digitaldata communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples ofcommunication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a widearea network (“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), andpeer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In someembodiments, a server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a clientdevice (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving userinput from a user interacting with the client device). Data generated atthe client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can bereceived from the client device at the server.

It is understood that any specific order or hierarchy of steps in theprocesses disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches. Basedupon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order orhierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged, or that allillustrated steps be performed. Some of the steps may be performedsimultaneously. For example, in certain circumstances, multitasking andparallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation ofvarious system components in the embodiments described above should notbe understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in themasculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., herand its) and vice versa. Headings and subheadings, if any, are used forconvenience only and do not limit the subject disclosure.

A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect isessential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to allconfigurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to anaspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. Aphrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and viceversa. A phrase such as a “configuration” does not imply that suchconfiguration is essential to the subject technology or that suchconfiguration applies to all configurations of the subject technology. Adisclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations,or one or more configurations. A phrase such as a configuration mayrefer to one or more configurations and vice versa.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example orillustration.” Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” isnot necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects or designs.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the variousaspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or latercome to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure isexplicitly recited in the claims.

1. A computer-implemented method for providing at least one of ageographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item, the methodcomprising: determining a geographical location or temporal informationof a device, wherein the device is configured to access items associatedwith an electronic messaging account; filtering first items associatedwith the electronic messaging account to obtain an item relevant to thedetermined geographical location or the determined temporal information;identifying an event based on the relevant item; filtering second itemsassociated with the electronic messaging account to obtain one or moreitems contextually relevant to the identified event; and providing fordisplay, the relevant item and the one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the identified event, wherein the provided display isdifferentiated from other items of the electronic messaging account. 2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein filtering the firstitems further comprises: determining geographical location or temporalinformation for the first items; comparing the geographical location ortemporal information for the first items with the determinedgeographical location or the determined temporal information of thedevice, respectively; and filtering the first items to obtain therelevant item, based on the comparison.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein filtering the second items further comprises:determining historical information for the second items; determininghistorical information for the relevant item; comparing the historicalinformation for the second items with the historical information for therelevant item; and filtering the second items to obtain the one or moreitems contextually relevant to the identified event, based on thecomparison.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, whereinhistorical information for an item comprises information about theitem's source, individuals identified by the item, one or moredestinations identified by the item, or a user's prior interactions withthe individuals identified by the item.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising assigning the relevant item andthe one or more items contextually relevant to the identified event to afolder that is differentiated from other folders of the electronicmessaging account.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5,further comprising assigning the relevant item and the one or more itemscontextually relevant to the identified event to different subfolderswithin the folder based on the relevant item's temporal or geographicalrelevance.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinproviding for display further comprises: assigning a color to therelevant item and the one or more items contextually relevant to theidentified event, wherein, the assigned color is based on whether therelevant item is relevant to the determined geographical location,temporal information, or both; and providing for display, the relevantitem and the one or more items contextually relevant to the identifiedevent in the assigned color.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein the relevant item is relevant to the determined geographicallocation, and the relevant item comprises an advertisement, an itineraryor an address.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining one or more other relevant items associated withthe identified event, wherein the one or more other relevant itemscomprise a shared event characteristic with the relevant item.
 10. Asystem for providing at least one of a geographically relevant item or atemporally relevant item, the system comprising: a memory storingexecutable instructions; and one or more processors configured toexecute the executable instructions stored in the memory, which whenexecuted by the processors, cause the processors to perform operationscomprising: determining a geographical location or temporal informationof a device, wherein the device is configured to access items associatedwith an electronic messaging account; filtering first items associatedwith the electronic messaging account to obtain an item relevant to thedetermined geographical location or the determined temporal informationfurther comprising: determining geographical location or temporalinformation for the first items; comparing the geographical location ortemporal information for the first items with the determinedgeographical location or the determined temporal information of thedevice, respectively; and filtering the first items to obtain therelevant item, based on the comparison; identifying an event based onthe relevant item; filtering second items associated with the electronicmessaging account to obtain one or more items contextually relevant tothe identified event; and providing for display, the relevant item andthe one or more items contextually relevant to the identified event,wherein the provided display is differentiated from other items of theelectronic messaging account.
 11. The system of claim 10, whereinfiltering the second items further comprises: determining historicalinformation for the second items; determining historical information forthe relevant item; comparing the historical information for the seconditems with the historical information for the relevant item; andfiltering the second items to obtain the one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the identified event, based on the comparison.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein historical information for an item comprisesinformation about the item's source, individuals identified by the item,one or more destinations identified by the item, or a user's priorinteractions with the individuals identified by the item.
 13. The systemof claim 10, further comprising assigning the relevant item and the oneor more items contextually relevant to the identified event to a folderthat is differentiated from other folders of the electronic messagingaccount.
 14. The system of claim 13, further comprising assigning therelevant item and the one or more items contextually relevant to theidentified event to different subfolders within the folder based on therelevant item's temporal or geographical relevance.
 15. The system ofclaim 10, wherein providing for display further comprises: assigning acolor to the relevant item and the one or more items contextuallyrelevant to the identified event, wherein, the assigned color is basedon whether the relevant item is relevant to the determined geographicallocation, temporal information, or both; and providing for display, therelevant item and the one or more items contextually relevant to theidentified event in the assigned color.
 16. A machine-readable mediumstoring machine-executable instructions for providing at least one of ageographically relevant item or a temporally relevant item for viewingon a mobile device, the instructions which when executed by a machinecause the machine to perform operations comprising: determining ageographical location or temporal information of a mobile device,wherein the mobile device is configured to access items associated withan electronic messaging account; filtering first items associated withthe electronic messaging account to obtain an item relevant to thedetermined geographical location or the determined temporal informationfurther comprising: determining geographical location or temporalinformation for the first items; comparing the geographical location ortemporal information for the first items with the determinedgeographical location or the determined temporal information of themobile device, respectively; and filtering the first items to obtain therelevant item, based on the comparison; identifying an event based onthe relevant item; filtering second items associated with the electronicmessaging account to obtain one or more items contextually relevant tothe identified event; and providing for display on the mobile device,the relevant item and the one or more items contextually relevant to theidentified event, wherein the provided display is differentiated fromother items of the electronic messaging account.
 17. Themachine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein filtering the second itemsfurther comprises: determining historical information for the seconditems; determining historical information for the relevant item;comparing the historical information for the second items with thehistorical information for the relevant item; and filtering the seconditems to obtain the one or more items contextually relevant to theidentified event, based on the comparison.
 18. The machine-readablemedium of claim 17, wherein historical information for an item comprisesinformation about the item's source, individuals identified by the item,one or more destinations identified by the item, or a user's priorinteractions with the individuals identified by the item.
 19. Themachine-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising assigning therelevant item and the one or more items contextually relevant to theidentified event to a folder that is differentiated from other foldersof the electronic messaging account.
 20. The machine-readable medium ofclaim 19, further comprising assigning the relevant item and the one ormore items contextually relevant to the identified event to differentsubfolders within the folder based on the relevant item's temporal orgeographical relevance.
 21. The machine-readable medium of claim 16,wherein providing for display further comprises: assigning a color tothe relevant item and the one or more items contextually relevant to theidentified event, wherein, the assigned color is based on whether therelevant item is relevant to the determined geographical location,temporal information, or both; and providing for display, the relevantitem and the one or more items contextually relevant to the identifiedevent in the assigned color.